Category Archives: Hawaii

David and Nancy Marchant, of Baynes Lake, British Columbia, were our first Affordable Travel Club hosts. Judy and Ward Lowrance, who introduced us to the Affordable Travel Club and invited us to split a house-sitting assignment in Seattle. A natural bridge slowly forms in Zion National Park, our destination in a week or so! Frugal [...]

Thinking of moving up from tent camping to a classic travel trailer? Be cool with the classics! Last week, I shared thoughts about moving from tent camping to small, newer travel trailers. I offered that small trailers share special qualities; they’re easy to maneuver into tight campsites, easy to store and can be towed with [...]

Friends Christine and Steve Lewis and dog Alice with their T@B trailer. Tiny trailering; see the country in small, cozy travel trailer! Our classic ’64 Serro Scotty in Yosemite; these other trailers are just a bit larger and heavier than our trailer. My spouse and I have spent the last 10 years or so crossing [...]

Search on-line travel features in the Record; a huge variety of destinations and travel topics! Did you know the Record offers a wide variety of travel features, approaching 300 articles, which can be selected by “Category” (various portions of the USA and Canada)? Hence, you can go to the Stockton Record’s blog site, choose ‘Valley [...]

Frugal travel – recommendations for saving cash “on the road”; use “cheap travel” to extend your vacation time! Let’s assume you have plenty of vacation time, or, are retired with lots of time – and desire to travel extensively. Here are suggestions for cheap travel allowing maximization of your travel explorations. First suggestion: Focus first [...]

Bucket list updates in the Western United States for the new year Last week I suggested tuning up your travel bucket list with 12 ultimate destinations in California. This week, here are the first half of a dozen additional western state’s destinations, suggested month by month (next week, another six). Since we’re into the new year, I’ll [...]

A five day visit to Hawaii, the Big (and rocky) Island… We have only five days on this huge island; on our first day we head south from Kona, targeting old Ka Lae (meaning “the point”), at 19° north of the equator, the southernmost point of both Hawaii and all 50 states. It’s the place [...]

Kauai, the Garden Isle; what first time visitors can cram into a week! We’ve been coming to Maui every year since 2001; but for an R&R visit from Vietnam in 1971 to Oahu, we had never been to the other Hawaiian islands. So, after hearing inspiration from other fellow travelers about both Kauai and the [...]

These are the seven must dos upon visiting Maui… Mark Twain called Hawaii “the loveliest fleet of islands that lies anchored in any ocean”. Maui, second most visited of the islands (trailing only Oahu), is one of the most beautiful and the one we know best from 16 visits there in the last 17 years. [...]

Fine but frugal dining – dining like royalty without breaking the treasury… Over the last four-plus years, Susan and I have traveled extensively across the US three times, the TransCan Highway across Canada to the Maritime Provinces and frequently throughout the US western states and Canadian provinces. Along with two two-week cruises on the rivers [...]

Blog Authors

Tim Viall

Viall is a local travel writer who retired in 2012 after 10 years as executive director of Stockton, CA's, Emergency Food Bank and six years with the Downtown Stockton Alliance. Previously, a 21-year career in daily newspapers helped shape his ... Read Full